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Community Corner

Free-Range Chickens, Eggs and Rabbits

Healthy Family Farms now offers a variety of organic meats at the Hollywood Farmers Market.

One of my favorite stops at the market is Healthy Family Farms, an organic poultry farm from Santa Paula. There’s always a line to purchase their fresh eggs and organic chickens, but its well worth the wait. I also advise you to make it one of your first stops because they tend to run out quickly.

“We’re a small farm,” said Carlos Fernandez, who runs the stand every Sunday. “It’s a matter of supply and demand, but we’re growing.”

Healthy Family Farms is indeed growing. They have started selling free-range gourmet meats. The pork, lamb and rabbit items are raised in the same manner as their chickens: free-range, organic feed and no hormones or antibiotics. 

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Do you remember the recent egg recall from one of those large egg farms? It was estimated that over one billion eggs were destroyed because of the disease outbreak. It also exposed how inhumanely the chickens were raised at those conventional factory farms.

“Our animals roam free at the farm,” Fernandez said. “The chickens eat bugs, insects and worms. You know, what birds eat?”

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Healthy Family Farms is a sustainable operation. All livestock is raised on a pasture rather than a confined cage. They harvest all animals humanely by hand before they are delivered to the farmers markets.

“We also never freeze our products,” Fernandez said. “Since the animals are so fresh, they will keep for about a week if you wrap them and keep in the refrigerator, but we urge you to cook the meats soon after purchasing to truly enjoy the freshness of our products.”

One of my favorite Sunday dinners is to roast one of their chickens. After I rinse it and let dry, I rub the entire bird with olive oil and sprinkle with fresh pepper and sea salt. Chef Brendan Collins, the owner of Waterloo and City restaurant in Culver City taught me to roast it in the French style, where the bird is roasted at a very high heat for a short period of time.

Turn the oven to 500 degrees and let it roast until the skin is crackling and golden, that’s about 45 minutes to one hour for one of their average-sized birds. When it comes out of the oven, sprinkle the chicken with a medley of fresh chopped herbs such as thyme, parsley and basil. Let the chicken sit before slicing so all of the juices remain intact.

The stand also sells a variety of cuts such as rack of lamb, pork shoulder and pork tenderloin. It also prepares ground pork and ground lamb. Make sure to order get one of their slabs of bacon to serve with their eggs for breakfast.

This Sunday is the start of spring, so may I suggest a family field trip out to visit the Healthy Family Farms? Interested parties may arrange a visit to tour the farm. They encourage visitors to bring a picnic lunch and enjoy the beautiful outdoor nature of the farm. More info is available here.

Next week is also the LA Marathon, so there will be road closures around the Hollywood area. The market is still open, but checkout the official marathon map to plan ahead.

I invite you to join me each week as I explore the magical world of the Hollywood Farmers Market. Please feel free to share stories and recipes of the items you also find interesting at the market. If you see me strolling about, please say hello.

See you next week at the Market!

The Hollywood Farmers Market is located at the intersection of Ivar and Selma avenues, between Sunset and Hollywood boulevards. It is open every Sunday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. (rain or shine.) It is a certified open-air street market with approximately 100 farmers, 30 local artisans and 40 baked-goods and prepared-food vendors who sell their own products every Sunday. It is a direct-to-consumer marketplace with all produce and products from local, California vendors and growers.

Parking: Cinerama Dome: $2 for first 2 hours with validation available at the information booth - entrance at Ivar and Delongpre avenues. -Metered Parking: Check parking enforcement signs. Some meters free until 11 a.m. on Sundays.

Dog Sitting: Only tagged assistance dogs are allowed at the market, but this shouldn’t stop others from walking their dogs to the public event. There’s a dog sitting service provided at the corner of Ivar and Vine streets. Your prized pooch will get to socialize with other dogs while you do your shopping at the market.  They charge a small fee of $5 per 20 minutes.

David De Bacco is a writer living and celebrating life in Los Angeles. He has worked for some of the world's most famous chefs and restaurateurs, and along the way he became a little savvy about food and wine. He has published articles and cookbooks for the Shibata Publishing Co. in Tokyo and is a contributing writer for Edge Publications. He is also the creator of the Cookin with Mama Blog, a meeting place to share recipes from our mothers.

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